


All Your Pretty Feelings

by Ikira



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Copious Amounts of Fluff, Happy things happen, M/M, So cliche and sweet my own teeth were rotting, Tadashi is a sleepy panda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-03-18 12:18:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3569384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ikira/pseuds/Ikira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So your dad’s crazy,” is the first thing Tadashi Hamada says to Fred after being dead for more than six months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Your Pretty Feelings

**Author's Note:**

> Technically Pitviperofdoom had nothing to do with this one, but she got me into this ship so I’m blaming her anyways. And once again I somehow managed to make Tadashi a sleepy panda. I might have a problem. But anyways, enjoy some silly Fredashi

“So your dad’s crazy,” is the first thing Tadashi Hamada says to Fred after being dead for more than six months.

He just walks into Fred’s room as casually as you please, nothing about his behaviour saying there’s anything strange about him being there. Despite the fact that, y’know, up until five seconds ago  _Fred thought he was dead_.

Fred clutches the comic book he was reading to his chest as if it’s become his only anchor to reality. He knows his mouth his hanging open like a stunned fish, but he can’t bring himself to close it. All he can do is watch as Tadashi walks across his room, brushing by so close that one of his untied laces slaps against Fred’s bare foot, and then unceremoniously faceplants himself on top of Fred’s bed.

There’s a moment of quiet, and then Tadashi murmurs, “Wake me up in twenty minutes,” his voice muffled by the pillows and sheets his face is buried in. He doesn’t even wait for Fred to respond, he simply relaxes and falls asleep all at once, completely dead to the world.

Twenty minutes is fine by Fred, because it’s going to take him about that long to get his brain up and running again. He glances over at the glass of orange juice he’d been sipping before, wondering if it had somehow been drugged, but quickly discards that thought. Heathcliff is far too good at his job to let someone drug Fred’s food.

But just to be sure, Fred drags himself out of his squishiest beanbag chair and inches his way over to the bed. He just stares down at Tadashi for a moment, waiting for something to happen, like a sudden flicker indicating it’s just a hologram, or for Tadashi’s skin to start going green and reveal the skrull beneath. But when nothing happens, he tentatively reaches out a finger. He lets it hover there for a moment, hesitating. What’s if this  _is_  a hallucination or something? Maybe he’s just having a really weird dream? Or it could  _actually_ be a skrull! But then he gives himself a mental shake. He’s a superhero now, he’s faced down way scarier things than this. It’s just Tadashi.

Maybe.

His finger pokes against Tadashi’s soft cheek before he can rethink it, solid and slightly yielding against the pressure, and Fred almost immediately springs back, waiting for an attack. He stands there in his best karate pose for a full minute, but all Tadashi does is sigh and shift a little bit. When nothing else happens, Fred slowly relaxes, blinking owlishly. Well, at this point he’s pretty sure he can rule out attack clones or shape shifting aliens. And Tadashi certainly  _feels_  solid, so Fred’s pretty sure the other man isn’t a ghost. But science required repeating tests to make sure your results were accurate, or at least he’s pretty sure that’s what Honey Lemon had said before, so he needs to try again to check.

This time when he touches Tadashi’s cheek, he doesn’t immediately jump away and prepare for his friend to suddenly change into a flesh-eating monster. Instead he keeps his fingers there, stroking a line down Tadashi’s face, marvelling at the mixture of warmth, softness, and roughness. Tadashi has a day’s growth or so of facial hair coming in, which catches on the pads of Fred’s fingertips, but the skin higher up on his cheekbones is smooth and warm.

Fred can’t help slowly running his hand all over Tadashi’s face, mapping it out by touch, learning it like he’s never seen it before. Overall, Tadashi doesn’t look much different. Rougher, of course, with the stubble, and there’s a faint mark on his jawline that could be a healing scratch or an already-forming scar, but other than that he practically looks the same as the day he’d supposedly died. It just doesn’t make any sense though. Just… _how?_

Almost as if his thoughts had been heard, there is suddenly a knock at his bedroom door. Fred, already tense with Tadashi’s sudden reappearance, yelps and jumps about a foot in the air. When he lands again, he immediately takes on his karate pose again, balancing on one foot with the other up and ready to kick and his hands ready to karate chop. He’s seen the pose in a thousand kung fu movies, so he’s pretty sure it’s the best one to defend himself and Tadashi with.

But all of that’s for nothing, because it’s just his dad standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

“Oh! Hey dad, it’s just you,” Fred relaxes, rolling his shoulders. “Man, that was close. I coulda hurt you.”

His dad doesn’t say anything to that, though Fred sees his eyebrow rise up over the edge of his ever present sunglasses.

“Sooooo,” Fred drawls out awkwardly glancing around the room. Ever since he’d found out about his dad’s secret superhero life, they’d been getting better with talking stuff out thing, but sometimes they still get stuck. And with Tadashi somehow in his room and  _not dead,_ Fred’s not really sure if he’s up for the usual stilted conversation they manage. Still, it’s his dad. He has to  _try_.

“S’up, dad?”

Not his best, but hey, he’s under pressure.

His dad chuckles quietly, stepping a bit further into Fred’s room now that he knows his presence isn’t unwelcome. He stops at the foot of the bed, looking Tadashi over, and then nodding to himself before turning back to Fred.

“Just making sure this youngster had settled in alright. The ride back was a bit rough for him,” Fred’s dad reports with a fond shake of his head. “Kids these days just can’t handle the Magnetmobile.”

“Dad, you took Tadashi for a ride in the  _Magnetmobile?_ Before  _me?!_ ” Fred squawks incredulously, his eyes darting between his father and Tadashi still sleeping obliviously on the bed. But then he realizes what that means. So his  _dad_  has something to do with this? He  _isn’t_ crazy? That really is…Tadashi? “What the heck is going on?”

With another chuckle, Fred’s dad reaches out an arm and wraps it around Fred’s shoulders, leading his son out of the room. “Here, let’s let the kid sleep while I fill you in on the details in the south kitchen, Heathcliff’s got nachos for us.”

“But…” Fred hesitates for a moment, glancing back at Tadashi. He doesn’t want to leave, part of him sure that the moment he looks away Tadashi will vanish and he’ll find out it was a dream all along.

“Come along Fred,” his dad insists, tugging Fred more firmly along. “He’s had a long day. He needs his rest.”

Reluctantly, Fred allows himself to be lead, but he won’t go quietly. “Okay, but you better start telling me what happened,  _now_.”

Fred’s dad glances over at him, notices the serious expression on Fred’s face, and immediately gives up on waiting until they get to the kitchen to start explaining. So instead he sighs, shakes his head, and starts talking. “Well, you remember my old arch-nemesis, The Red Curtain? Well, turns out she wasn’t as retired as I’d thought, and she happened to be in San Fransokyo about six months ago…”

+++

So it isn’t quite twenty minutes. More like three hours, but after hearing his dad’s story, Fred’s pretty sure Tadashi needs it.

After all, while Fred is pretty used to the whole superhero lifestyle by now, Tadashi would have been completely new to it. Not to mention based on some of the stuff he’s heard about his dad’s superhero alter ego…yeah, he can kinda see where Tadashi is coming from with the whole ‘crazy’ comment. Especially after being trapped in the hands of the Red Curtain, who’s somehow even  _more_  nuts than his dad. Tadashi would probably be jumpy around ribbons for a good few months.

Still, Tadashi can’t sleep forever. His family will be here soon to see him. Initially, right after his dad had finished explaining everything, Fred had wanted to call the Lucky Cat Cafe right away. After all, he thought, shouldn’t it be Hiro who first spoke to Tadashi when he woke up? But his dad had brushed him off, saying that Heathcliff was already placing the call and preparing one of the family’s limos to go pick the Hamadas up, and then sent him back to his room with a smile and instructions to keep an eye on Tadashi.

So here Fred is, sitting in his own room next to his bed, staring down at his friend who he thought was dead. He’s trying not to be all creepy-Twilight about it, but he’s not really succeeding. He tried to pick his comic book back up to read while he waits for Tadashi to wake up, but he stopped after reading the same panel twelve times. Instead he gives up and just starts looking Tadashi over again.

Tadashi had shifted a bit while Fred and his dad were gone, and now he’s on his side facing out into Fred’s room with one arm tucked beneath the pillow and the other splayed out. His face is slightly smushed against the pillow, and he’s drooling slightly, but Fred can’t bring himself to look away. Maybe it’s just because he hasn’t seen Tadashi in a while, maybe it’s because he’s still not completely convinced he’s not dreaming.

The fluttering in his heart implies it might be something else though. He deliberately does not think of the crush he had on Tadashi all those years ago. He’s over that, he swears.

Fred tells himself it’s just to prove once more that Tadashi’s actually, really, truly there. He just needs confirmation. There’s nothing weird at all about reaching out and holding Tadashi’s hand and watching him as he sleeps. Nothing. He’s just…making sure. And if he curls his fingers more tightly around Tadashi’s hand and squeezes, and if he shifts his chair a little bit closer, it’s just to get comfortable. At least that’s what he tells himself.

He’s just about to try lacing their fingers together, for comfort and nothing more he swears, when his eyes dart back up to Tadashi’s face only to see the other man is staring back at him. Fred yelps quietly and tries to jerk back, but suddenly Tadashi’s holding onto his hand just as tightly as Fred had been before, and there’s no where for him to go. Fred has to make an awkward half wiggle half kick to keep himself from falling out of his chair anyways.

“T-Tadashi!” he stutters, his voice cracking slightly with surprise. He quickly clears it and tries again. “Tadashi, dude! Didn’t realize you were awake.”

Tadashi just blinks at him, awake but not completely aware yet. After a moment, he rolls up into a seated positions and lets out a truly jaw-cracking yawn, his arms going up over his head in a stretch. He hasn’t let go of Fred’s hand yet though, so Fred is pulled along, half falling onto the bed. Fred has to quickly brace himself with his free hand so he doesn’t faceplant straight into Tadashi’s chest, though it’s still a close thing. When Tadashi finishes stretching and relaxes again, Fred’s stuck awkwardly hovering over him on the bed, their faces far too close together. Fred’s face is bright red.

And they’re  _still_  holding hands.

Tadashi, the little bastard, doesn’t even seem to notice Fred’s awkward position. He merely smacks his lips together and scratches at his tummy with his free hand, still looking very groggy. Fred very carefully looks away when the scratching brings Tadashi’s shirt up a bit, revealing a thin sliver of pale skin and the faintest flash of dark hair. Not cool, checking out your friend when he’s half asleep. Only that means Fred has to look straight ahead at Tadashi’s face, and those lips that are  _way_  too freaking close. And have they always looked that soft?

“Hmmmm?” Tadashi hums sleepily, before finally opening his eyes a bit wider. “Oh, hey Fred. Has it been twenty minutes yet?”

Fred has no idea. Fred has forgotten the concept of time. Fred is currently struggling to remember his own name.

It eventually registers to Tadashi that Fred isn’t answering, and only then does he seem to realize how close they are. But instead of freaking out like Fred sort of expects him too, he simply blinks once, his eyes going slightly wider than usual, and then leans back a bit, his cheeks taking on an endearing red flush.

“Oh, um…” he stumbles, looking away. “Uh. Hi.”

“Hi,” Fred repeats breathlessly, still staring at Tadashi’s mouth. But then all at once he realizes what he’s doing, and he jumps back. Their hands finally let go. “Oh, yeah, whoops! Sorry dude, I tripped a little, you know how clutzy I am.” He laughs weakly, and sits back down in his chair next to the bed. It’s still shifted very close though, so their legs brush up against each other, which is Not. Helping.

“No worries,” Tadashi quickly assures him, smiling, but he’s still blushing. Fred’s pretty sure his own face is on fire. “So…what’s going on?”

Fred immediately latches onto the new topic like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. “Well!” he says loudly, jumping up out of his chair and starting to pace as he fills Tadashi in on the details. “My dad let me know what happened, rough stuff, man, no one likes getting kidnapped by supervillains, that sucks, we’re here for you if you want to talk about it.” He waits until Tadashi nods before he continues. “So after that Heathcliff gave your Aunt a call, and then he’s going to go pick her and Hiro up and bring them here so they can see you. That cool?”

Tadashi nods along, and when Fred finishes he shrugs. “Yeah, that sounds good to me, I guess? Honestly, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m home. I was starting to think I’d never see any of you again.”

“Tell me about it,” Fred huffs, leaning back against his bedroom table. “We thought you were  _dead_.”

Tadashi flinches, and Fred wants to punch himself. Way to put his foot in his mouth.

“Hey, man, no. It’s cool. You were held hostage by supervillains, that’s a pretty good reason not to call.”

“Still,” Tadashi argues, looking down at the ground. “I should have thought of  _some_  way to let you guys know. I was just scared if I contacted you, you guys would get dragged into it with me. I had no idea your dad was a superhero though.” He looked up at Fred then, smiling weakly. “That’s pretty cool. You must have been pretty excited when you found out you’re the son of a superhero.”

For a moment, Fred almost blurts out that it’s even better  _being_  a superhero, but manages to stop himself in time. As much as he’s involved in the Big Hero 6, that’s Hiro’s secret to tell, and he’s not going to out his little bro before he even gets a chance to see his big bro alive. Instead he manages to nod, a wide smile on his face.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” he agrees. “Especially when he brings home friends that I thought were…gone. How was the Magnetmobile? I haven’t tried it out yet myself.”

Tadashi actually snorts a little at that one. “I think I prefer getting picked up by Aunt Cass,” he jokes, shaking his head. “I said it before and I’ll say it again, your dad’s  _crazy_.”

“Yup!” Fred accepts cheerfully. It’s enough to make Tadashi laugh for real, leaning back on the bed a bit and relaxing. It’s nice, Fred thinks to himself. There are still bags under Tadashi’s eyes, and he’s a bit too thin now that Fred’s had a chance to look him over sitting up, but when Tadashi laughs he looks just as lively as he used to. Fred can almost pretend he’s just hanging out with Tadashi after a few days of getting lost working on Baymax, instead of after six months of being dead.

The pair eventually settle into a comfortable silence, content to just sit for a moment in their own thoughts. But after a few moments Fred starts getting antsy. He was never one to just sit still and be quiet, he likes to always be moving. That’s why he makes such a good school mascot, he has the energy levels needed to be pumped up throughout the whole game. So once again he starts pacing the room. He can’t seem to settle on anything either, brushing his fingers along the spine of his comic book collection, picking up a figurine only to put it back down again a moment later, tapping his stereo system but not turning it on. He deliberately doesn’t walk near the bed, but he can still feel Tadashi’s eyes on him, watching him as he moves around the room. He has no idea where all this nervous energy is coming from though. Or rather, he has an idea, but he’s trying his hardest not to think about it.

“Hey…Fred?” Tadashi suddenly breaks the silence, making Fred jump a little bit. But he sounds so lost, so hesitant, so unlike his old self that Fred immediately turns to look, his brow furrowed in concern. Tadashi isn’t looking at him anymore. Instead, he’s picking at the bottom of his t-shirt, the tattered hem falling apart even further under his fingers.

“Yeah?” Fred answers, abandoning the gameboy he’d been toying with and wandering back over to Tadashi’s side. When Tadashi still doesn’t look up at him, he takes a seat on the bed next to his friend. He tries to catch Tadashi’s eye, but the other man still won’t look up. Fred is starting to get more than a little worried, the little details his dad had divulged about what had happened to Tadashi darting through his head. “What’s up, dude?”

“Um…” Tadashi hesitates again. As Fred watches, his tongue darts out to wet his lips, once again drawing Fred’s attention to them almost against his will. Oh gosh, now they’re shiny as well as soft looking. He knows Tadashi isn’t doing this on purpose, but Fred can’t help but think his friend is trying to  _kill_  him.

But then Tadashi takes a deep breath and looks up at Fred, and Fred quickly tears his eyes away from Tadashi’s lips. Thankfully Tadashi doesn’t seem to have noticed Fred’s inattention, or if he does he is kind enough to not comment. Besides, he seems a bit…distracted, himself. And are Fred’s eyes deceiving him, or is Tadashi blushing again? Fred had been worried that Tadashi was having some sort of flashback to his time in captivity, but now he’s starting to suspect there’s something else going on.

Thoroughly confused, Fred waits for Tadashi to speak. Thankfully he doesn’t have to wait long.

“I…it’s just,” Tadashi starts choppily, his hands still fidgeting with his shirt. “You know, how I…how I was starting to think that I…I might not come back, right?” Fred nods, not wanting to speak and ruin Tadashi’s momentum. “Well…I mean, most of the time I was worrying about Hiro and Aunt Cass. Well, more Hiro than Aunt Cass. She can take care of herself, but Hiro…? I mean, I wasn’t even sure what had happened to him after the fire. At first I thought he might have actually followed me in. I was  _terrified_  that he’d followed me in.”

Tadashi has to pause for a moment to shake off that upsetting thought, and Fred lets him. He reaches out one hand and rests it on Tadashi’s back, letting him know that Fred’s there. After a moment, Tadashi manages to get himself under control, and continues.

“So I was worried about them, of course, I’m always worried about them. But…there was something else I…I mean….” He trails off, trying to gather his words, a look of frustration growing on his face when he can’t find exactly what he’s trying to say. Finally he gives up with a huff, shifting on the bed so he can face Fred more straight on. “Look, can I just…can you just close your eyes and sit still for a moment? I want to try something.”

Completely bewildered now, Fred still trusts Tadashi implicitly, so he does as he’s asked, settling down more comfortably on the bed and letting his eyes slide closed. With no vision to distract him, he’s now hyper aware of the man sitting next to him. He can feel the heat coming off of Tadashi’s skin where they’re pressed close together, can hear Tadashi’s breathing. It’s a very…strange experience, and Fred can feel his breathing pick up a bit in response.

He can’t see it when Tadashi stands up from the bed, but he hears and feels the bed shift and creek with the change in weight. He hears the soft sounds of Tadashi’s footfalls on his bedroom carpet as he walks away. He doesn’t open his eyes, because Tadashi hasn’t told him to yet, but his brow does furrow in confusion.

“Hey, Tadashi? What - ”

“Shhh, please don’t talk,” Tadashi cuts him off, his voice sounding oddly strained. Fred shuts his mouth with a soft click of his teeth tapping together. He’s somehow even  _more_  confused now, and starting to feel a bit nervous, but so far all he’s been doing here is sitting with his eyes closed. Strange, but if that’s what Tadashi needs him to do to make him feel better, he’ll gladly sit like this for the rest of the day.

Still, he’s starting to get antsy again. He can’t help it, it’s in his very nature to be a bouncy person! He half-suspects that there’s some Tigger in his family tree. Not to mention the nervous energy is back, even stronger than ever. He honestly is about to start bouncing in place, he wants to just  _move_  and -

Suddenly Tadashi is  _right there_. His hands are resting on Fred’s shoulders, their warmth sinking in past the thin fabric of Fred’s shirt like brands on his skin, and his face is close enough that each breath tickles Fred’s nose. Fred instantly goes still as a statue, frozen in uncertainty. What the heck is Tadashi doing? He can’t  _possibly_ be doing what Fred  _thinks_ he’s gonna -

He can. He is. Tadashi is kissing him.

It’s a gentle feeling. No pressure, no movement. Just the simple press of lips against his own. Warm, slightly chapped, not as soft as Fred had been thinking but close. And then Tadashi draws back with a soft exhale, and Fred can breathe again.

He can’t help it. His eyes fly open without prompting, looking up at Tadashi in stunned silence. For his part, Tadashi hasn’t moved far, still resting both of his hands on Fred’s shoulders, but he’s blushing even brighter than before, red all over his face and up to his ears, and he’s staring at the floor.

“I…I just wanted to know what that felt like,” Tadashi confesses to the stillness of the room. “That’s…I kept thinking, when I was trapped, that I’d always wanted to…to try that, and I never had. So I promised myself if I ever escaped, I would…well, y’know…yeah,” he finishes lamely.

When Fred doesn’t immediately say anything, Tadashi’s expression shifts from shy embarrassment to swiftly dawning horror and regret.

“I…sorry, I shouldn’t have…” He starts to pull his hands away from Fred’s shoulders, tries to back away.

Fred’s own hands shoot up, grabbing Tadashi’s by the wrist and locking them in place. Tadashi looks up at him, startled, but Fred doesn’t stop there. He tugs gently on Tadashi’s arms, pulling him in close again, so that Tadashi is standing between his knees. Tadashi gives him a wide-eyed look.

“Fred? What…” Fred doesn’t give him time to finish his question. With one hand still holding Tadashi’s wrist, the other reaches up to the other man’s shirt collar and drags him down. Tadashi has just enough time to squeak in surprise, and then Fred is mashing their lips together.

This kiss is  _not_  simple or gentle by any stretch of the imagination. It’s all lips and teeth and tongues, his hands running up into Tadashi’s hair and back down his sides. Tadashi is equally enthusiastic after he gets over his initial surprise, falling forward so that he’s pressed almost full body against Fred and pawing at Fred’s shoulders and neck and face. This isn’t simple kissing, it’s a full-on make-out session. By the time they pull away, they’re both breathless, their hair is messed up, and Tadashi’s shirt is somehow even  _more_  ruined than before.

They stare at each other, panting. Tadashi licks his swollen lips again, and shakes his head.

“What the heck was  _that_?” he demands, though he doesn’t sound nearly as upset as Fred was worried he might be. So Fred just throws on his standard careless grin, too happy to try to be subtle.

“Hey, you said you wanted to know what it felt like to kiss me. Might as well do it right,” he argues with a shrug.

Tadashi just stares at him for a moment longer, still blushing, but a small smirk starting to grow on his face.

“Well then,” he begins to say. “I’m not quite sure I was paying close enough attention to how it felt that time, maybe we should - ”

Once again Tadashi is cut off, only this time it’s by the sound of someone knocking on the door. Both men jump up, looking guilty as hell, but it’s only Heathcliff standing in the doorway, looking at them with his usual unreadable expression.

“Ms and Mr Hamada have arrived,” Heathcliff announces after he’s sure both Tadashi and Fred are aware of his presence. Then, with his message delivered, he bows shortly to them before turning and leaving the room.

Tadashi and Fred take a moment to just stand there, trying to calm their racing hearts. Then Fred makes the mistake of catching Tadashi’s eye, and both of them burst out in nervous giggles like their a pair of schoolboys that just got caught making out behind the bleachers. It’s not exactly  _that_  far from the truth. His nervous energy has somehow vanished, but in its place, Fred now feel like he’s walking on air. He just kissed Tadashi Hamada. He just  _kissed Tadashi_.

Once they’ve calmed down enough, Tadashi glances down at his ruined shirt and groans, breaking the moment.

“Oh man, I was hoping they wouldn’t see me like this,” he admits, shaking his head with a sigh. “I look like a wreck.”

“You can borrow one of my shirts, they’ll fit you,” Fred offers, already heading towards the closet.

“No, Fred, I stink, I’d ruin it.”

“Whatever man, like I care about a little sweat,” Fred points out, tossing one of his only plain t-shirts in Tadashi’s direction. “Besides, you should probably just keep it. I don’t know if your Aunt got rid of all of your stuff or not yet, but you might not have any other clothes. I’ve got plenty of shirts.”

Fred  _may_  also have ulterior motives for this act of altruism as well. He grins to himself as he watches Tadashi strip the old shirt off and toss it away, revealing lots of pale, smooth skin underneath. He’s still too skinny, and there are some concerning scars on his back, but Fred can still appreciate the sight of a half-naked Hamada when presented with one.

All too soon though, Tadashi has tugged the new shirt over his head, and starts running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it look slightly more presentable. It’s a bit of a lost cause, but Fred’s not going to comment. Once Tadashi’s fixed his hair to the best of his ability, he takes a deep breath and looks over at Fred.

“Ready to go say hi?” Fred asks.

“Yeah,” Tadashi answers, still looking kind of nervous, but also practically thrumming with energy. He’s probably been waiting for this moment ever since he was rescued, and Fred won’t let it be delayed a second longer. So, with a theatrical sweep of his arm, he gestures Tadashi ahead of him as they leave his bedroom and head for the east wing parlor, where their guests are waiting.

And if Tadashi slows down enough to wait for him once they reach the hall, and if their fingers happen to brush against each other as they walk, well, Fred’s not going to say anything.


End file.
